Greetings and salutations from your detail-focused Bubbe, ready to talk even MORE about backup hands.
Last week, when I went over the three panels of the card, I offered you backup options for almost every hand. I recommend looking over those suggestions, every few weeks. It never hurts to think about these concepts. You stay focused on possibilities and get yourself ready for what could actually happen during a game. Remember, luck favors the prepared mind!!
The answer to that first question, then--when do you need a backup hand?--is every game. That doesn't mean you'll have to use it, it's just good to consider it. Even if there is a hand that fits for your tiles, you should have a second (or even third) hand in mind in case of several specific situations.
This is the answer to the second question: why do you need these hands, why would you switch? The GOOD situations include suddenly picking useful tiles: completing a pair, or drawing additional jokers, Flowers, dragons, etc.--tiles that open up more possibilities for you, either to achieve mah jongg more quickly through an "easier" hand, or (if you're like Bubbe and love a challenge) perhaps make you eligible for a more interesting and/or higher-scoring hand. Another Bubbe saying is, "Life's too short to play boring mah jongg hands"--if you find yourself with three Soaps and a bunch of 2's and 6's, maybe this IS your time to go for the Big Hand!!
The BAD situation, of course, is when your current plan is no longer viable. An example from the new card: you thought you were going for LN2, with single dragons in each of the three suits, but someone else exposed a jokerless kong of Green dragons. Sure, you could stoically just keep playing that hand, even though it won't win--especially if there are only ten or so tiles left in the wall--but if it's early enough in the game, you can switch your hand and still possibly pull out a victory! I will also add that sometimes just stopping the other players, and coming to a draw/Wall game, is a victory in its own way, especially at a tournament. One of my favorite examples is this game, from a long time ago at a tournament at the Kalahari in Wisconsin.
So we know when you should consider a backup hand, and we know why you would switch to that hand. These are things you can consider in advance--preparing, if you will, by imagining scenarios or playing with bots, or reading old articles of mine...all sorts of ways to think about switching, before you've even sat down at the table!
Then, suddenly, you are faced with either the good or bad situation. How are you going to switch? If you've made an exposure, you'll have to live with it; the new hand must incorporate it. If you've made two or more exposures, it could be a lot tougher to find a good fit. Remember, if your hand goes dead/is no longer viable, you do NOT announce it--it's for others to figure out, and question you. And it's the HAND that is dead, not the player!!
But what if you've got a good situation? Simple example: you pick a joker, or are able to exchange for one. Unless you were going for a Singles and Pairs hand, it has become a lot easier to make your current plan....but maybe you do want to switch to something else. Per the above, at worst you would make the current one faster than originally planned. There may be something more interesting to switch to, e.g. you can suddenly go for a Quint hand, or although you were originally hoping to draw a second Flower, you now have the opportunity to easily switch to a hand with a pung of Flowers. There are all sorts of possibilities, and it helps to consider what would be a good switch for you. Look at the card after the Charleston and think about what hands might work for your tiles--both with what you have, and in a best case scenario, where a pair gets completed or another dragon, or a Flower, or a joker comes in.
The most important thing to remember if you do switch hands is to make sure you have all the details in mind. Remember that this year there are a bunch of pung-pung-kong-kong hands, but they aren't ALL in that specific order. Double check before making any exposures; it's a bit tricky. It never hurts to familiarize yourself with the different hands, especially ones you don't play often. And never be so brazen as to think that you don't need to have your card at the table!!
I truly believe switching is one of the most important skills to have if you want to be a more advanced player. I keep statistics when I go to tournaments (playing 48 or more hands in less than 48 hours gives you a lot of data!). I write down how many jokers and Flowers I am dealt; at the end of the Charleston, I write down what hand I think I will play. At the end of the game, I write down how many jokers and Flowers I ended up with, what hand I ended up playing, and whether I won. I have found that I switched my hand literally 50% of the time, from Charleston to final tile. And a slight majority of my winners were on switched hands!!
Finally, I absolutely recommend reading my old articles from previous years. Obviously the hands change, but the strategies themselves do not!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com ; I love hearing from you!
More exciting mahj talk to come....
Bubbe
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